Raw Kale and Beet Salad with Raisins and Almonds

Mine was great! It was a great time to connect with Rob’s family, relax and we were also able to squeeze in a short (if you consider 6 hours short for 88km, but still brutal) bike ride on Good Friday.

As I mentioned earlier, I was was a bit hesitant about what I would eat over the holiday weekend while being away from home, considering I have cut out dairy, fish, meat, refined flours and sugars. In the end, there was no need to be stressed at all. Rob suggested making a few things while we were down, and I picked out some dishes that I knew tasted great, used relatively common ingredients and would appeal to a wide range of people.

The main meal over the weekend was Sunday Easter brunch, which was filled with an overabundance of Polish goodies. Nearly everything had meat or eggs, but I was able to contribute some greenery. I chose to share this salad that my family and I enjoyed over Christmas. While a raw kale salad would be different in itself, I figured the beets would bring some Polish-style comfort to the new dish.

Adapted from Ainslie at Everyone is a Vegan, I really liked the mixture of the massaged/wilted kale with a sharp lemon dressing, raw grated beets with sweet dried fruit (a mixture of raisins, currants and dried cranberries works well) as well as crunchy toasted almonds. Before I made this salad, I didn’t know you could eat raw beets, but you can, and they taste great. A tip for working with beets, though: if you buy them with the greens, leave yourself a long piece of stem to hold. This way, when you grate it, your hands don’t get nearly as purple (not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but I’m just suggesting how to stay clean!).

This is also a perfect salad for parties, since you can make it advance, and if you make too much, the leftovers keep well for a few days. What a super salad! Judging by how many people have invited themselves over to (not yet) our new abode, I better start compiling a list of easy, crowd-pleasing dishes like this for company.

1. Place kale in a large bowl. Drizzle in the lemon juice, oil and salt. Mix it all up with your hands (no cheating!), working the lemon juice and salt into the kale leaves until the colour begins to darken and the leaves wilt (around 5 minutes).

2. Add shredded beet to kale, toss to coat beet in dressing. Top salad with raisins and almonds before serving.

Serves 4 as a side/appetizer (and can easily be doubled, or tripled for a large crowd)

You’re more than welcome to bring your vegan goodies to any of my parties! This looks great. PS now that you know about raw beets, you’ll have to try a beet slaw! I made one last year that we really liked.

Well, given how super sweet Rob is, I can’t imagine that his family could be any different! I’m sure they loved everything you made! I’ve been meaning to try massaged kale and I think you’ve inspired me to stop procrastinating and do it. The salad looks delicious!

I’m so glad you like this salad! The picture looks so delicious! And good tip about holding the stem/greens of the beets to avoid purple hands, haha 🙂 Also, if you get beets with fresh looking greens still attached, you can even eat those in a salad or as steamed greens!

I’m assuming this is the salad that you were telling me about that your mom loved and shared with people? I must try it! I have recently discovered the deliciousness of massaged kale when I made the raw Asian kale salad from the 2 week wellness solution.

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